


The Lost Firebender

by theonewithwaytoomanyfandoms



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Childhood Friends, F/M, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27097633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonewithwaytoomanyfandoms/pseuds/theonewithwaytoomanyfandoms
Summary: Everyone knows the story of how Avatar Aang was trapped in an iceberg for 100 years. What they didn't know until much later, however, was that there was more than one person who survived that that storm. Kuzon of the Fire Nation is many things: a decent firebender, a dutiful daughter, and a loving friend. And, perhaps, the last known member of a Nation once peaceful and brilliant, hollowed out by one hundred years of war. She is out of place, on the run, and maybe even out of time.Or, the story of how Aang's best friend Kuzon is trapped in the iceberg with him for 100 years, and the two of them find a family.
Relationships: Aang (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s), Aang/Kuzon (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 75





	1. The Before

“Aang, I don’t think we’re going to make it!”

“Yes, we are! We have to!”

The storm crackled around the two twelve-year-olds, desperately clinging onto Appa for dear life. It had come out of nowhere, just like this whole week had, time and life desperately changing. What had started out as a routine trip to the Fire Nation for Aang in order to seek advice for his current predicament was now a natural nightmare. Aang was terrified that they weren’t going to make it safely back to Kuzon’s parents, but he had to have faith in Appa and he had to try. He winced as another lightning bolt sliced the sky in half, whipping his head around as he heard Kuzon scream behind him. 

“I’m gonna fall!” she screamed, clinging onto the sky bison’s leather saddle after a gust of wind had overtaken her small frame. 

“Just hold on! I’ve got you!” Aang fought the winds to airbend his friend away from the edge, gripping onto her hand when she was close enough to him to reach.

“Gotcha!” 

Kuzon looked at Aang in absolute terror, her face drenched, slapped by the rain coming down around them. Her golden eyes searched around for some kind of answer to their problems, some way she could be useful to get them out of here safely. 

“Just hold onto me, okay? Don’t let go. Whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand!” Aang yelled, fighting to be heard over the worsening conditions. 

“I won’t! I’m here! Don’t leave me, okay? Don’t leave me!” 

The two children clung to each other, desperately, as Appa began to fall. 

“No, no, no, no! Appa! Aang! We have to do something, we have to do something now!” Kuzon screamed. 

Appa roared, trying his best to protect his two young charges, but it wasn’t enough. Aang desperately tried to airbend his way around the storm with one hand, his other clinging to his best friend like her life depended on it. Later, Aang would reflect on how true that was, that Kuzon’s life _did_ depend on them not being separated. 

A minute later, they hit the water. 

They didn’t remember anything that happened after that. 

* * *

There was a rule in the Fire Nation that Kuzon always was sure to uphold: be a good daughter, help your mother. It was something that she had never forgotten as the only child of glassmakers, extremely busy artisans living in the merchant’s sector of Caldera City. Work was hard, family time was precious, and everyone had their duty to both their family and to their country. But this didn’t mean Kuzon had an unhappy life, or didn’t like her family. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Kuzon _loved_ her parents and the life they had in the capital. She was extremely lucky to have such a warm home (both figuratively and literally) with such loving people as her guardians. She went to school, helped her parents in their shop, and spent time with her family and friends in the evenings. Her life was wonderful, and at twelve years old she had already traveled so much of the world and made friends in the other nations because of those travels. Her parents were encouraging of her exploration of different cultures, and it was because of her parents’ connections that she had these friends in the first place. As artisans, much of the business they did was multinational, as glassmaking from the archipelago was a revered craft. 

It was through one of these many opportunities for her family that she met her best friend. It wasn’t often that her parents met with Air Nomads, so of course the one time that Kuzon remembered just happened to be the time she met Aang. 

Kuzon was three years old when Monk Gyatso of the Southern Air Temple came to her parents’ shop. He knew that Lee and Shuran had a young daughter, so he decided to bring along his young charge, as the child loved making new friends. Aang was a talented and boisterous young airbender, full of life and promise. Gyatso had his suspicions that the boy would someday be destined for greatness, but hadn’t shared that much with him or any of the other monks about his thoughts. For now, he just wished for Aang to have a normal childhood, as normal as any Air Nomad’s. Before they arrived in the Fire Nation’s capital city, Gyatso made sure to tell Aang exactly why they were there, and why he had accompanied him on this particular trip. 

“Now Aang, do you know why we are going to the Fire Nation?” 

“See trees!” Aang replies, as carefree as ever. 

Gyatso chuckled, always amused by the boy. “No, Aang. We’re here to see a very special family. 

At first, the boy didn’t quite seem to understand what his beloved mentor was saying. “Fam-ily?” he asked, his inquisitive gray eyes widening. 

Right, Monk Gyatso realized, chiding himself for the oversight _._ He barely knows what one is. 

Suffice to say that the family as it appeared in the other nations was not an Air Nomad custom. Rather, the younger Nomads often held great affection for friends and guides in order to better their preparation for adulthood. 

“A family is, well--,” he repeated, suddenly aware that he had no idea how to explain such an abstract concept to someone with absolutely no frame of reference for the idea. “The people we are visiting today make up a family. They’re the ones who make the pretty glass from the Fire Nation. They have a little girl about your age. I thought you might like to be friends.” 

That, Aang unquestionably understood. “Friend!” he cried, tugging Monk Gyatso’s arm while floating erstwhile into the air as if to compel him to move faster. “I like friend!”

“That you do, Aang,” he chuckled, and Aang, suddenly bursting with enthusiasm, practically skipped down the long cobblestoned avenues. His eyes lit up when they stopped in front of a small, cheery red house, its pagoda rooftop trimmed with gold, and he bounced on his feet up into the air - always bouncing, that one, Gyatso thought - as the monk patiently knocked and waited for an answer. 

“Is that you, Gyatso?” a voice called from behind the door, open save for the second screen door behind it. It was a woman’s voice, rich and modulated, and Gyatso could not help but smile when its owner came into view. 

Shuran had been a known talented artist in her youth, a fact Gyatso had learned firsthand after her dance troupe’s performance at the Southern Air Temple, and it was easy, even now in her thirties, to see why. Years of training as a dancer had given her all of the graceful suppleness one might expect, and her subsequent decade of glassblowing experience had helped her to retain the shapely angles of her form. Her golden eyes met nearly everything with a mischievous sparkle and her glossy black hair fell in waves around her shoulders that never seemed to lose their sheen. Even now she was stunning and little Aang was transfixed - though by her soft voice or her graceful movements or the general radiance of her being, Gyatso wasn’t sure. 

Maybe it was the toddler on her hip. 

“Shuran!” Gyatso greeted her with a jovial wave. She’d told him long ago not to bother with the Fire Nation’s often-stuffy etiquette and he was all too happy to oblige. “And Lady Kuzon!” 

“Gyatso, and…” Shuran peered down at Aang. “Why, Gyatso, you didn’t tell me you were bringing your little protege along!” 

“My apologies, Shuran. This is Aang,” he said. “He’s quite sociable, and I think it does him good to make friends from other nations.” Of course, Monk Gyatso had his suspicions on why he thought Aang might need that experience, but he was very reluctant to tell anyone just yet. “I thought he and Kuzon might get along.” 

“I’m sure they will!” Shuran said brightly, though her brow was still a little furrowed at the unexpected change to her plans for the visit. “Kuzi, would you like to say hello?” 

Kuzon, her head resting on her mother’s shoulder, blinked shyly a few times but didn’t say anything. Aang, thankfully, took the hint. 

“Hi, Kuzi!” he said brightly, waving up at his new acquaintance. “I’m Aang.” 

“No I’m Kuzon!” she cried with every ounce of righteous indignation in her three-year-old body. “That’s my _real_ name!” 

Aang, ever the diplomat even at three, nodded. “I’m sorry. Hi Kuzon! I’m Aang.” 

“Kuzon, my little spark, that wasn’t very nice,” Shuran admonished. “And after Aang had such nice manners-”

“Shuran, they’re three. It’s quite alright.” He said with a twinkle in his eye at the little Fire Nation girl. Gyatso stepped through the screen door, slipping off his shoes. “Now, tell me, Shuran. Where’s your husband off to?” 

“Making a delivery,” Shuran said, guiding them down the hall to a bright, open room with tall windows that let in every drop of sunlight that they could. “I told him you might come while he was out, but he insisted. You know how Lee is.” 

“I do,” Gyatso chuckled. “Now, you know I’ve been looking forward to a cup of your goji berry tea since my last visit…” 

Shuran laughed, and set her daughter down as she turned off towards the kitchen to prepare the tea. 

Now that she was at ground level, Kuzon looked curiously at her supposed new friend. He didn’t speak, but bounced around quite a bit. Sometimes, Kuzon would note with delight, when he pushed up from his feet, Aang would float into the air for a bit. The two children stared at each other, not quite sure where to begin. Until Kuzon, who was ever the boisterous one, broke the silence. 

“I’m so bored!” she said outright. 

“Wanna play with me?” Aang asked in reply, and suddenly Kuzon found him even more interesting. 

“Yeah!” she nodded vigorously. “Do you know any games? Everyone here just wants to play House or Hide and Explode And House is boring and I hate Hide and Explode because all the old kids at school make it really scary and-”

“I can make an air scooter!” Aang interrupted her tirade with enthusiasm. “Do you wanna ride an air scooter?” 

Kuzon considered the idea. She had never played an airbending game before. 

“Sure!” she decided, so Aang grabbed her hand and pulled her into her backyard. 

Two hours of screaming while zipping around on air scooters, several grass-stained garments, and two stomachaches’ worth of spicy chili noodles later, Kuzon decided that this new friend of hers was the best friend she’d ever had. (Not that she knew many others, to be fair. She was three.) 

Neither knew then that a bond starting with clasped hands, an airbender’s tricks, and a shared affinity for noodles would outlast nearly everything they thought they knew. 

* * *

  
The next time Kuzon saw Aang for longer than just the yearly seasonal visit was when they were eight years old. It was around this time that they met their favorite friend in the Earth Kingdom. Bumi was from one of the most noble families in Omashu, and was probably going to be royalty at some point. But for now, he was just an eight year old kid with an eccentric personality and an affinity for crystallized rock snacks. They met Bumi on an otherwise unassuming trip, and the rest was history. 

Kuzon had been given permission from her parents to go with Aang and Monk Gyatso for a visit in the Southern Earth Kingdom for the first time, and so while Monk Gyatso did whatever grown-up thing he had to do in Omashu, Aang and Kuzon took Appa and flew around the city. The air and sights of the Earth Kingdom were so different than those of the Fire Nation, Kuzon noted. It was drier here and the architecture that the earthbenders had built was incredible. She turned to mention her observations to Aang, when all of a sudden, a giant rock was flung from the ground towards Appa’s face. Aang quickly swerved to miss it, directing Appa to land as gracefully as the bison could. Before Kuzon knew what was going on, Aang slid off and made his way towards where the boulder had come from. 

“Hey! You coulda hit Appa in the head!” Aang shouted, feeling very protective of his animal companion. 

“But I didn’t! I’m just trying to teach everyone a little earth-swerving!” The rock-thrower, or more accurately, the earthbender who had brought the rock upon the two children, made his appearance out of the king’s palace. “Everyone has to learn how to figure out how to dodge Omashu’s greatest defenses!” 

Kuzon pet Appa between the ears before sliding off his tail and tumbling not-so-gracefully to the ground. She was still getting used to navigating the sky bison’s growing with her own growing height, and it was at times like these that it showed. She made her way over to the two boys who had now set aside any pretences of animosityr and were now talking about catapult rocks. 

“That still doesn’t explain why you shot a rock into the sky,” Kuzon stormed, glaring at the laughing earthbender. “Not all of us can fly, you know.” 

Aang laughed at her petulant face and her crossed arms. “It’s okay, Kuzon, Bumi didn’t mean any harm!”

“Bumi?” 

“Oh yeah!” Aang said, “Kuzon, this is Bumi, the guy who lives next to the King of Omashu! And Bumi, this is my best friend in the whole world, Kuzon! She’s from the Fire Nation.”

“Whoa, really? Are you a firebender?” Bumi asked, completely ignoring how put out Kuzon still looked about the giant rock. 

“Yeah,” she said, “but I’m not very good yet...and I haven’t known for very long that I could do it. Aang here has been airbending forever.” 

Bumi laughed. “All the elements are so different! Just like us! I think we’ll be friends forever!” 

Aang smiled. He liked the idea of them all being friends, even if Bumi was a little strange. 

“Yeah! Friends forever sounds great. What do you think, Kuzon?” Aang asked.

“I was already gonna be friends with you forever, dummy. I guess we can add another person into the mix.”

Bumi grinned. “Not to worry! I’ll be showing you everything about Omashu in no time! And show you how much of a genius I am, of course.” 

And show them he did. That day, Bumi showed Aang and Kuzon exactly how the carrier carts in Omashu worked, and how they could ride them. Aang and Kuzon had to hold on for dear life while Bumi explained exactly how to control the slide down the chute. Aang could airbend their way down in the cart, but Kuzon was not so lucky. Later, Aang would tell Kuzon exactly how terrified her face was as the plummeted from the top of the city to the marketplace where the tracks ended. She was not amused. 

“Never. Again. Aang.” she panted, her sense of adventure being overrun by her shaking legs and need to stand on solid ground once again. 

“How is _that_ what gets you? You can ride on Appa no problem, you live in the middle of a volcanic city, we ride on the glider _all the time!_ I thought you would like this,” Aang said, very concerned for how sick Kuzon looked. 

“I don’t know! I just panicked! It was a lot!” 

“That’s okay, Kuzon!” Bumi shouted. “We can do something else now!” 

Kuzon groaned, wondering what exactly this new friendship would bring next.

As it turns out, it was much better than the last thing. While Bumi may have been a mad genius, he also had a need to set memories in stone. Maybe that was the Earth Kingdom in him, but he insisted on documenting this day in their memories forever. So they went back to the royal palace of Omashu, where Bumi asked the royal painter to depict the three new friends so that this day would last forever. When all was said and done, and Aang and Kuzon were ready to depart back to the Southern Air Temple, Bumi hugged them goodbye, told them to visit soon, and gave them a small painting to take with them wherever they went. Kuzon folded it up and put it in her pocket, turned back, and waved goodbye to the giggling earthbender. Aang grabbed her hand, and they jumped up on Appa together. With a resounding “Yip Yip!” they followed Monk Gyatso back to Aang’s home, a new adventure completed and a new friend for life made. 

* * *

Aang and Kuzon were twelve when they found out that Aang was the Avatar. 

“So you’re the Avatar? Like, _the_ Avatar? The _Avatar_??” Kuzon looked utterly bewildered, and honestly, Aang couldn’t blame her. It’s exactly how he felt, after all. 

“Yeah,” he said miserably, “I’m the Avatar. The monks told me a few days before I came to visit you. Monk Gyatso said I could come out here and tell you, because you’re my best friend and he said it was important that you know.”

“Important that--” she spluttered. “Important that I know? Of course it’s important that I know! This is a big deal, Aang!” 

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not any different from when we met! Or when we went to the summer solstice fire festival every year! Or when we went to the Northern Water Tribe for winter lights! Or even when we went to the Southern Water Tribe for penguin sledding! Or when we go see Bumi in the Earth Kingdom, or visit any of the Air Temples-”

Kuzon takes his hand, squeezing it quickly, before intertwining their fingers. “Aang, I _know._ I know you’re not a different person. But this is a big responsibility!”

“You don’t think I don’t know that!” Aang yells, frustrated at everything. 

“You do! You _do_ know that. Aang, look at me. All I’m saying is that I’m with you. No matter what, Avatar or not, scary worlds-balancing life or not. You’re my best friend in the whole world and Agni I’m _with you!”_

Aang looked back at her, face pinched, with his gray eyes shining with tears. “I’m scared, Kuzi. I’m scared.”

Kuzon takes his other hand and draws him in for a hug. “I know. I know. I’m scared too. My parents have been acting nervous for the past couple years, and I don’t really understand what’s happening right now, but you know that we’re gonna get through this, okay?”

“Yeah,” Aang murmured sleepily into her shoulder. “I do.” 

“Good. Now, come on, my mom wanted to say goodbye before we went back to the Southern Air Temple.”

“You’re coming _with_ me?”

“Of course!” Kuzon laughed, flipping her hair up into the topknot she always wore when they were getting ready to travel. “I wouldn’t miss you training to learn all four elements for the world! Plus, maybe Monk Gyatso will even let me help with your firebending! I know I’m not a master, but it could be fun!”

Aang smiled. Kuzon and he had been through everything together, through all their wild adventures, to his Airbending Master’s ceremony, to every Fire Nation celebration her parents put together. This was just one more adventure that they’d be embarking on. 

After saying goodbye to Lee and Shuran, giving them tight hugs along with Shuran’s instructions to “keep each other safe, we’ll see you in a couple of months, we love you both!” Kuzon and Aang left the Fire Nation to set out for the Southern Air Temple in order to begin to learn what it meant to be the Avatar. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
Two months later, Aang woke Kuzon up in the middle of a downpour at the Southern Air Temple. Kuzon was unsure what was going on, only that Aang was confused and scared again of all his duties, and that he was going to be sent away to another Air Temple without Monk Gyatso and without her. She sets her face, determined. 

“Let’s go back to the Fire Nation. My parents will know what to do,” she says, with all the confidence her twelve-year-old voice can muster. 

He takes her hand after that, and the two children set off into the night on Appa. With a hurried “Yip Yip!” they flew away. 

* * *

_“_

_Just hold onto me, okay? Don’t let go. Whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand!”_

_“I won’t! I’m here! Don’t leave me, okay? Don’t leave me!”_

_Darkness, Kuzon thought as she slowly was lulled to sleep, still holding desperately onto Aang’s hand, was a funny thing._


	2. The Pair in the Iceberg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuzon and Aang wake up to a whole new world....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness you all! Thank you so much for the amazing reception on the first chapter of this story! And apologies for updating it over two months late. This back half of 2020 has been such a rut for me with everything, and irl stuff really kept this story from being updated, but I wanted to update before the new year, and where I am, I've done so as it's still December 31st! I hope that you all continue to enjoy Kuzon's story as much as I have enjoyed writing her, and wish you all a happy new year 2021!

Kuzon had never been this cold in her life. 

Of course, that should have been the last thing on her mind as she gasped for air, breaking through a cascade of ice shards as they shattered around her. How in the world she had gotten stuck in a mountain of ice when the last thing she remembered was plunging into the ocean, she didn’t know. She sat up, finally able to breathe properly again, and flinched when she realized Aang’s hand was no longer in hers. 

“Aang? Aang!” she shouted hoarsely, voice strained from disuse. Where were they? Was Appa alright too? What was with all the ice? And for all that was light in this world, where had Aang gone? 

“Kuzon, I’m over here!” Aang jumped up to the ledge she was currently sitting on, concern plastered over his small face. “Where did you go? I found Appa but I didn’t see you anywhere! I thought you got lost in the ocean!” 

“No...no I’m here,” Kuzon said shakily, trying to stand, and taking Aang’s waiting hands when she couldn’t quite do it on her own. She smiled at him as she squeezed his hands in thanks. “What happened to us?”

“I’m not really sure!” Aang replied cheerfully. “It looks like we ended up coming out of the storm okay, but we got stuck in some ice? We must have gone south instead of north? Or maybe east instead of west? Or-”

“You’re not good at directions,” Kuzon reminded him wryly.

“Oh yeah,” Aang rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “Anyway, I made two new friends! They’re very confused about how I got here but they’re nice, you should meet them!”

“Aang. How did you find  _ people  _ in the  _ middle of the ocean _ and  _ make friends with them? _ ” 

Aang pointedly ignored her, as he did when he wanted to be particularly stubborn or bother Kuzon a little too much. “I guess they’re from the Water Tribe, from what they said, but it’s like they’d never seen an airbender before. Maybe they’ll relate to you more.” 

Kuzon frowned. She didn’t like how this situation felt, them suddenly being found after falling into the open ocean. How long had they been out? A day? A week? She hoped her parents wouldn’t be too worried about them. And who were these new people? Should Aang and her trust them? She had too many questions and was a little too disoriented from the cold to completely be aware of what was going on to ask them. And  _ hungry _ . She had never been more hungry in her life. She decided that she would focus less on what happened to them and more on who these two Water Tribe people were. Unlike her best friend, she was always the grounded one, a little more cautious about strangers, and this time was no different. Aang said they didn’t recognize him as an airbender. That alone made her suspicious, as she and Aang had went to both the Southern and Northern Water Tribes pretty frequently for winter festivals growing up. She took a deep breath, set her shoulders straight, and flicked her icy hair back, trying to warm it from the roots up. 

“Okay Aang. I’ll meet them. Let’s go,” she says, shuddering again from the cold. 

  
  


* * *

There were three things that Kuzon observed about the two Water Tribe strangers that Aang had made friends with. One, was that they were much younger than she was expecting them to be. She couldn’t tell who was older, but they looked to be at least fifteen. The second thing she noticed was that they were definitely siblings. If it wasn’t for their similar features giving them away, Kuzon could definitely tell by the almost protectively fraternal way that the boy had his arm on the girl’s shoulder. 

The third thing was that the siblings seemed  _ very  _ suspicious of her. Almost too suspicious. Whereas they seemed comfortable enough with Aang as she observed her friend speak to them, the boy kept shooting glares over at her. 

Kuzon didn’t know what to do, and honestly what she really wanted was to hide herself in Appa’s comfortable fur until these strangers went on their way and she and Aang could continue their interrupted journey to the Fire Nation. She had a terrible feeling about all of this. Maybe she could just convince Aang that they needed to go home? Before she could gather up the courage to try and pull him away from the strangers, however, Aang grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to these new friends of his. 

“Kuzon, look! I want you to meet my new friends. This is Katara, and this is her older brother Sokka. They’re from a village in the Southern Water Tribe!” 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kuzon said shyly, giving them a little wave that masked her nerves. Katara, the younger of the two siblings, smiled and waved back at her. 

“It’s so nice to meet the both of you! I can’t believe that Aang’s an airbender...are you an airbender too?” Katara asked, enthusiastic to be meeting new people. “I’m a waterbender!” 

“No..no, just a regular person!” Kuzon laughed nervously. “It’s so cool that you can waterbend, though.” 

Aang laughed. “Kuz is great, definitely more than just regular. She’s my best friend! The last time we came to the South Pole we had an amazing time in a huge penguin sledding race with all the other kids here. We’d love to do it again.”

Katara looked excited at that prospect, but before she could agree to the younger children’s invitation, Sokka cut in. 

“Are you crazy, Katara? They could both be Fire Nation!”

“Really Sokka? An airbender working for the Fire Nation? Fat chance,” Katara chided her brother. Kuzon and Aang looked at each other, more than a little confused. 

“How do we know that they didn’t signal the Fire Navy when they broke out of that iceberg huh? And what about the girl? She’s not an airbender, and she looks awfully suspicious to me. Look at her eyes-”

“I have a name!” Kuzon yelled. All eyes snapped to her, and she suddenly felt very small. She looked at Aang, who had worry in his gray eyes. Then she looked back at the Water Tribe siblings. “I have a name. It’s Kuzon. And this is Aang, and we’re just lost! We didn’t signal anybody, I don’t know why anyone would be working for or against anyone, and we’re just trying to go home!” She squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched her face in, trying not to cry. Sokka looked taken aback, not expecting such an indignant argument from such a little person.

Kuzon was still breathing heavily from yelling when Katara stepped forward and laid a hand on one of her shoulders, and another on Aang’s. “Let’s get you both back to the village for some warmth and food. You both look absolutely starved anyway. Sokka and I can tell you anything you’d like to know-”

“Not  _ anything,” _ Sokka grumbled. 

Katara shot her brother a nasty look. “And then we can ask you some questions as well, okay?” 

“That sounds great, Katara!” Aang said. “I’ll go get Appa and see if he’s ready to give us a ride back.” 

Aang flew off to see Appa, and Kuzon was left alone with their new companions. Sokka was still extremely wary of her, she could tell, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. 

“Sokka,” Kuzon began, approaching the older boy, “Why did you say that a ship from the Fire Navy would be out patrolling so far South? What’s going on? We don’t know how long we were trapped in that ice.”

“There’s no way you don’t know about the war,” Sokka stated, staring at Kuzon in disbelief. “You know, ‘four nations, we lived in harmony, until the Fire Nation attacked, yada yada yada’ you don’t know  _ any of that?”  _

“Fire Nation attacked?” Kuzon asked. “What do you mean the Fire Nation attacked?” 

Sokka stared at her in equal disbelief, but before he could say anything more, Aang was back with Appa. 

“Everyone, this is Appa, my flying bison!” Aang said.

Sokka snorted. “Haha, and this is Katara, my flying sister.” Katara elbowed him in the side again. Kuzon really was beginning to understand the dynamic of these two siblings. 

“Everyone climb on! We’ll head to your village and be back in no time. Yip Yip!” Aang directed Appa to start flying, but he groaned and just wouldn’t leave the water. 

“Aang, I think that ice must’ve worn him out...I think we’re gonna have to swim back to the Water Tribe.” Kuzon remarked. 

“Huh. Guess you’re right, Kuzi. Okay we’ll go from here!” 

As they set off, Katara asked them a few questions, and they tried to answer as concretely as possible without revealing their identities. Kuzon didn’t know how long that was going to be able to last however, as Katara asked the most specific question yet. 

“Aang, you’re an airbender. And you and Kuzon are close, right?”

“Yeah, of course!” Aang replied.

“Is there any chance...that either of you know the Avatar?” Katara asked, hope in her eyes.

“Avatar? Uh, no. I don’t know him. Never met him,” Aang replied, eyes cast downward, the way Kuzon knew they did when he was lying. Kuzon furrowed her brow, wondering why exactly they were keeping his identity a secret. 

“Oh,” Katara sighed, disappointed. “It’s just that, for almost 100 years we’ve been waiting for the Avatar to return, in order to finally defeat the Fire Nation in this terrible war they started.”

“Yeah,” Sokka said, scowling at the thought. “The fighting has taken all of our warriors from the tribe, including our dad. War’s taken our mom away too. Everyone is suffering, and has been for years. The Avatar’s not coming back, no matter how much Katara thinks he is.” 

“That’s not true, Sokka! We can’t give up hope,” Katara replied, voicing frustration with her brother. 

While the siblings continued their bickering, Aang and Kuzon looked at each other in dread.    
  


“Aang, did you hear what they said? About the Fire Nation?”

“Yeah...and about the Avatar?” 

“What happened? 100 years?” 

Aang looked at his best friend. “I don’t know. And I don’t think we’re gonna like what we find out.” 

* * *

  
  
The next thing that Kuzon remembers is warmth. Cozy hearth warmth, the kind that she was used to spending with her parents on rainy winter nights in Caldera, telling stories, making jokes, and watching her mother dance while her father held her on his shoulders. If she closed her eyes and kept sleeping, maybe she could continue the dream where she was safe and home, but her stomach just kept rumbling, and something kept tickling her belly, so she opened her eyes...to find Aang staring back at her giggling at the noises her stomach was making. 

“Aang! You woke me up, get  _ off! _ ” Kuzon grumbled, pushing her friend off her bedding (which she now knew to be the most comfortable furs she’d ever slept on) while he continued to laugh. 

“Sorry, Kuzon. You’re just so hungry, I figured I should wake you up soon anyway. Let’s go see where Katara is, maybe she has some food?” 

Aang pulled her up from the ground with both his hands, accidentally shooting them about a foot into the air. “Sorry,” he winced, “Let’s just go see what’s going on.” 

They exit the igloo, hands linked, laughing at Aang’s miscalculations in airbending that tended to happen when picking Kuzon up. They stopped, however, when they saw Sokka and Katara with a number of people in the blues of the Water Tribe, staring at them. 

“Hi Kuzon! Hi Aang! I hope you slept well, it looks like you needed a rest after the food,” Katara said, looking as energized as the last time they had seen her. “I want you to meet our village. Kuzon, Aang this is the entire village. Everyone, this is Aang, an  _ airbender.  _ And this is his friend, Kuzon.” 

Aang smiled. “Hi everyone! It looks like the Air Nomads haven’t been around in awhile, huh? I think it’s been a couple years since Kuzon and I were here at the South Pole for the Winter Festivals. It’s always nice to meet a new village.”

An older woman who looked to be Katara and Sokka’s grandmother stepped forward. “Young man, we haven’t seen an airbender in almost 100 years. What a phenomenon indeed. You can both call me Gran Gran. And you, young lady. You’re no airbender, are you?”

“No, Gran Gran,” Kuzon whispered, swallowing hard.

“That’s what I thought. Your friend here doesn’t need a parka to keep completely warm, while you’re in one of Katara’s old ones right now. Yet you radiate off inner heat. Your hair being that inky black while your eyes are that golden are a giveaway, child. You’re a little firebender, aren’t you?”

“ _A_ _firebender? Here? We need to capture her! Send her to the warriors! What’s she doing with that airbending kid, anyway? Doesn’t she know what her kind has done? Doesn’t she?”_

The village continued to murmur. Kuzon began to back up, scared. What was happening? The Fire Nation must have started some kind of war while they were out of it, which she was beginning to realize with a sense of growing horror was that magic number of one hundred years. While her homeland had been rather combative when she left it, there hadn’t been any outright  _ war.  _

But then they had gotten lost.  _ She had gotten lost with the Avatar.  _ Had that emboldened them to start conflict with the Water Tribes? Had they done the same to the Earth Kingdom? The Air Nomads? Her hands went to her hair, clutching it hard, starting to panic. What had her people done? 

She backed up into Aang, who steadied her as she stumbled into him. 

“Kuzon doesn’t know anything about that!” Aang came to her defense. We got lost before this war thing started. We have no idea what’s going on! 

“So you’re telling me that an airbender, who we haven’t seen in a hundred years just happens to be hanging around a firebender...from the Fire Nation? Nah, you’ve got an ulterior motive girly,” one of the village women spoke up, hands on her hips. Before Kuzon or Aang could say anything more, however, Gran Gran spoke up. 

“These children are telling the truth,” she said. 

“But Kanna!” someone exclaimed from the crowd. Gran Gran shushed them. Kuzon thought she must be the most respected elder here. 

“But nothing, Nolora. These children have not seen war. Loss and confusion? Yes. But not war. Leave them be. This might be the only firebender in the world who does not know of the monstrosities her Nation has inflicted. She will have to learn the hard way. And unfortunately, we cannot house either of you here for any longer. It is too much of a danger to our village.”

“But Gran Gran! They have nowhere else to go!” Katara gasped. 

Sokka answered his sister. “I’m sure they have places they can go, Katara.”

“Didn’t you hear? They’re 100 years out of time!” 

Aang was at a loss. He didn’t know what was going on, and Kuzon was shaking beside him, learning about what had changed in her home. He still couldn’t quite believe that 100 years had passed. What did that mean for all of Kuzon’s family? For both of their friends? 

“We don't mean to cause any trouble, Gran Gran. Kuzon and I can just go, and make our own way.”

Kuzon squeezed his hand and shakily stepped forward. “We would never want to make you feel uncomfortable. Thank you for keeping us warm and fed. We can go now.” 

“No! If they’re going to leave the village, you’ll have to accept me leaving too! I’m going to find someone to teach me waterbending, and Aang and Kuzon said they’d help,” Katara shouted, standing her ground. 

“Katara, we don’t want to stand between you and your family,” Aang said, looking uncomfortable. 

“No, we’re at least giving you both some fun before you go. I said I’d take you penguin sledding, and I will. C’mon Aang, c’mon Kuzon. Let’s go.” 

Aang and Kuzon looked at each other and wordlessly agreed to follow Katara away from the village. It seemed as though she was determined, and she was being nice enough to offer some distraction from the growing confusion of the two young children’s new reality. 

For now, they’d take what they could get. 

* * *

  
  


In retrospect, they really shouldn’t have explored that old Fire Nation ship after their penguin sledding excursion. 

_ “I TOLD YOU IT WOULD PROBABLY BE BOOBY-TRAPPED!”  _ Kuzon screamed. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, you’re right! But we have to get out of here, now!” Aang yelled back. It seemed like they’d been doing that a lot since they woke up in the future. 

“Okay, you can get the most lift so you get Katara out of here, and then come back for me, okay?” 

“No, you have to come too!”

“I will, I’ll be right behind you, I’m going to cover us! Katara, go with Aang!” 

Katara looked back at the little firebender. “You have to come with, we have to get back to the village!” 

“I will, I’ll be right behind you, I promise.” 

“Kuzon. Don’t take too long. Just follow me, please,” Aang pleaded. 

“Always. I’ll be fine! Just go!” 

Kuzon watched as Aang picked Katara up, launching up out the window of the ship and into the sky, while she made sure to pick her way out of the massive hull of a shipwreck. She knew next to nothing about military craft from her home, except for what had been taught in school, and that had been enough. It was too late to stop the flare that had been released, but maybe she could make sure the whole thing didn’t go up in flames before Aang and Katara were safely out of range. 

“Kuzon! Get out of there!” Aang yelled. 

“I gotta get out of this window!” she yelled back. 

“Jump out! I’ve got you!” 

Kuzon climbed up the frame of the window, breathed in deep, and jumped. 

  
  


_ One. Two. Three. Four. Five _ . 

“Gotcha!” 

She always could reliably count on Aang to catch her in midair. 

“Hey, nice catch,” she laughed. 

Aang scowled, “Yeah well, they have to be nice if you’re going to fling yourself off stuff. You still can’t fly, Kuz.”

“Oh, let’s go. We have to go help Katara and Sokka’s village!” 

They ran towards where Aang had set Katara down and grabbed her hands on either side. It was this way that they ran back to Gran Gran, and where they found the village preparing to meet the Fire Nation ship spotted on the horizon. 

* * *

  
  


“Sokka’s gone up to meet the ship, he’s the only warrior left at home right now,” Katara told them, worried for her brother. 

“What do you think they’re here for?” Aang asked, puzzled. 

“Probably you or me,” Kuzon said under her breath so that only he could hear her. “We’re the ones who are different here. I just don’t understand why the Fire Nation decided to start a war. It doesn’t make sense. We’ve all traveled all over the world, everything was fine.” 

Aang just frowned, slipping his hand into hers. It was something they tended to do in situations that scared them. Kuzon squeezed back, equally nervous. 

They all watched as Sokka tried (and unfortunately failed) to apprehend the Fire Nation soldiers that came off the huge metal ship. After Sokka had been pulled back to safety by some of the older village women, the soldiers approached. The leader, Kuzon observed, had to be no older than Sokka or Katara. He was an angry looking boy with a plume ponytail, the sign of shame in her home nation. Heavily scarred on his face and angry at the world, this boy looked to be on a mission as he glared angrily at the members of the Water Tribe village. Katara stepped in front of Kuzon and Aang, hiding them from view by squeezing them both behind her back. 

The boy looked around again and shouted, “ _ Where is the Avatar.”  _

Beside her, Aang froze. Kuzon looked into his eyes and mouthed  _ ‘he’s looking for you?’  _ Aang shrugged in response, but peeked around Katara’s protective stance. Kuzon pulled back on his hand in warning, but he leaned forward anyway in order to observe this new stranger. 

Everything sprung into action when the angry boy started harassing the Water Tribe villagers. Aang jumped out from behind Katara (not without a shout of indignation from the older girl) and sent a gust of air in order to combat the boy’s firebending from hurting anyone. Kuzon stepped out from Katara as well, causing her and her grandmother to reach out to pull her back, but she was too quick. She had to be there for Aang, in case this got even more out of hand. She had almost reached his side when Aang addressed the angry boy. 

“Wait! If I go with you, do you promise to leave everyone alone?” 

“ _ You’re  _ the Avatar?” the boy asked with surprise. “But you’re just a kid!” 

“And  _ you’re  _ just a teenager,” Aang countered defiantly. Kuzon snickered behind her hand. 

“ I was expecting you to be an old man,” the boy continued, “not a small child. But yes. If you come quietly, Avatar, I’ll leave this place alone.” 

Aang nodded, then reassured the Water Tribe village. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t truthful. And that I’ve brought this to your village. Thank you for everything. Help Kuzon take care of Appa while I’m gone, won’t you, Sokka and Katara?” He turned to follow the angry boy up the metal ramp of the ship, until----.

_ “Wait!”  _ Kuzon ran towards Aang, until two soldiers stopped her in her tracks. Kuzon squirmed and struggled against them until she got the angry boy’s attention. “Wait! Aang, no! We can fix this together, come back, come back!” 

“You’re- you’re Fire Nation, aren’t you kid? That coat isn’t fooling anyone. How on Agni’s green earth did you end up with an airbender...and the Avatar at that?” 

“I am Fire Nation. And that’s my best friend,” Kuzon declared petulantly, trying not to show fear while standing up to the older boy. 

“I see. Well, I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, and  _ you’re a little traitor, aren’t you.”  _

“I am  _ not-”  _ Kuzon began hotly, until Aang spoke up once again. 

“Look, we already agreed you’d leave everyone alone if I came with you, you leave Kuzon alone.” 

“Aang, no wait-” she reached again for him while still struggling against the Fire Nation soldiers. 

“I’ll be fine, Kuzi. I’ll be back soon, I promise.” Aang smiled, trying to reassure her. 

They left, leaving Kuzon staring out in the cold, only the burning judgement of her countrymen remaining. 

* * *

  
  


“We have to go after them!” Kuzon cried once Sokka and Katara had caught up to her, jerking her out of her hollow stupor. “Please, I know we all just met, but you’re all so kind and brave and good...and Aang and I don’t know what we’re doing here and we need help. We started to make the journey so that he could learn all four elements and he didn’t mean to keep that he was the Avatar from you it’s just...it’s just-” 

“Breathe, Kuzon. Breathe,” Katara said, reaching down to embrace the shaking younger girl. “It’s hard to come to terms with, but I get why Aang hid his identity. I understand why you were scared to speak up about yours once Sokka and I told you about the world. It’s not pretty, but it is what we’ve grown up with.”

“It really has to suck that you woke up to your nation being a bunch of rage monsters though,” Sokka said.

_ “Sokka!”  _ Katara gasped.

“No, no he’s right,” Kuzon said shakily. “They-they called me a traitor. Just for being with you all. Something really bad happened, didn’t it?” 

Sokka and Katara looked at each other uneasily. “It did,” Katara said, “But now we have to focus. Our Gran Gran said we needed to go to the North Pole so that Aang can find a waterbending master. So that  _ I  _ can find a waterbending master. We’re with you.” 

“Hey, I’m here to make sure you don’t all die, but sure, let’s go with that,” Sokka grumbled. 

Kuzon let out a watery laugh. “Okay, that sounds good. And I’m not the best, but I’ll have to be Aang’s firebending teacher because I don’t know who I can trust from back home anymore...or what home even looks like….But let’s go find Appa and save Aang.” 

  
  


Appa was resting just outside the village, so Sokka and Katara loaded up everything their Gran Gran had given them for the journey while Kuzon went to his head to talk to the sky bison. 

“Appa, hey boy. Aang’s in trouble, so I really need you to fly so that we can go save him, okay?” She pressed her whole head into Appa’s nose, taking comfort in his familiar fur. “We can do this, okay?” Appa snorted in agreement, so Kuzon pet his head while he licked her face. “Okay. Let’s do this.” 

* * *

Kuzon held the reins to Appa’s saddle while shouting “Yip Yip,” as she’d done a hundred times before, and they were off. It didn’t take long for Sokka and Katara to spot the Fire Nation ship, and while Katara and Kuzon were both new to fighting with their respective elements (and Sokka was still growing with his fighting skills in general), they all stood ready to face whatever it took to get their airbender back. By the time that they had caught up to Prince Zuko’s ship, they saw that Aang had already escaped most of the ship’s soldiers and was currently fighting on the deck. Aang was currently in a fight with the angry firebender boy when they got there and surprised them all with Appa’s roar. 

Kuzon jumped onto the deck and pulled Aang into a fierce hug. “Don’t ever leave me like that again! We stick together, remember?” 

Aang squeezed his best friend back just as hard. “I know. I’m sorry. I just wanted to keep you safe. The Fire Nation has changed so much.” 

Before the two kids could talk any further, Zuko clung onto Aang’s airbending staff that Sokka had gone to retrieve. Katara desperately tried to freeze everyone to the deck of the ship, which bought them some time to climb back onto Appa’s back. Aang and Kuzon ran away after the Water Tribe siblings, hoping to block the pathway of the Fire Nation ship. Once they were all on Appa, Zuko and an older man who Kuzon didn’t recognize went after them with a dual firebending blast. Aang repelled it back with a gust of air, taking out a sheet of ice to stop the blast from touching the four of them. 

“Kuzon, can you hold them off? Try to firebend!” Aang yelled, propelling himself forward on Appa to get away quicker. 

“I don’t know! I haven’t tried except for small flames since we woke up. Aang- I’m not that good, you know-” 

“It doesn’t matter! You’re good enough for me. I trust you, Kuz, come on, you can do this!” 

Kuzon turned back to the two firebenders who were getting steadily closer in their chase of the sky bison, and sent a blast of fire back down towards the ship, causing the prince and the old man to scatter. The last thing that she saw before she whipped around, her job done, was two Fire Nation nobles looking at each other in absolute shock that there was not only a Fire Nation citizen as the Avatar’s companion, but a competent firebender to boot. 

_ Good,  _ she thought as she watched the angry prince’s expression get angrier,  _ let them come for me. Maybe that’ll teach them to come for Aang again.  _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is a story that is many months in the making. I am hoping to write relatively regularly, but it took a while to get to the beginning. I've always liked the concept of found families we see in Avatar and I wanted to see what would happen if one of Aang's childhood best friends came along for the ride. Since we know virtually nothing about Kuzon in the show, I figured it would be fun to put a new spin on her character! The idea of childhood friendship and loyalty and authentic soulmates definitely plays a part in this, so come along for the slowburn ride! Thank you to everyone who has given me the courage to post this story. I am grateful to all of you!


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